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When people thought of Elia Martell, the first thing that came to mind was "frail."

Born too early and carrying the consequences of that event her entire life with her fragile health, many people dismissed her because of that and therefore underestimated the weapon she did possess and that was honestly far more dangerous than any feat of strength: her mind. From the moment she could talk, Elia always knew the right things to say to the right people.

Some people joked that the weak Princess could read minds, a joke that actually wasn't far off the truth, but only few people would learn this. During one visit to Highgarden in the Reach, the wit and boldness of the teenage Elia gained her the rare approval and respect of Olenna Tyrell who told her to write whenever she wished, something that would save Elia in the future.

Growing up in carefree Dorne, Elia became fast friends with Ashara Dayne almost from the moment they met as the two girls soon became pretty much inseparable to the point where Oberyn once joked that if either one of them were a man, they could have just married each other. This earned him a slap in the face from both young women who did not appreciate his joke and told him to never speak of the idea of them marrying ever again and he quickly agreed as the glares on their faces scared even him

Once she reached the age where marriage became the most important subject in life, Elia, Oberyn and their mother traveled through Westeros to find suitable parties for them. After almost managing to make a match with Baelor Hightower if not for her brother naming him "Baelor Breakwind" and her inability to look at the poor man without laughing, they went on to visit Casterly Rock

Their mother had actually known the late Lady Joanna Lannister when they were both still Ladies-in-waiting for Queen Rhaella Targaryen before they had both left the court to focus on their respective duties as well as starting and raising their families and while the lady had died in childbirth not too long ago, she still hoped to get something out of this visit but it was not to be at that time.

Meeting Jaime Lannister officially once they had arrived at Casterly Rock as her mother hoped to make a match between them, Elia would later admit to Oberyn and Oberyn only that she was definitely charmed by him as he seemed to be a kind soul, but that there was something about the harsh glare his twin sister Cersei gave her whenever she saw them that gave her bad chills down her spine. "When you find your match, I will glare at her too, but more in a "you better take care of my brother" kind of way." She began to explain

She's honestly looking at me in a way that makes me think that she is thinking of countless ways to quietly kill me whenever I'm near Jaime just for being in his presence and it genuinely scares me more than almost anything i have seen before yet." She confessed and Oberyn immediately decided to not let his sister out of his sight for the remaining duration of the visit to the Westerlands.

Once the time was right, their mother carefully broached the subject of a possible future marriage between either Jaime and Elia or Cersei and Oberyn, even having procured an extra cabin on their ship in case one of the matches actually went through, only for both offers to be immediately and harshly rejected by Lord Tywin Lannister as he wanted his daughter to be wed to Rhaegar Targaryen 

He then actually offered his deformed son Tyrion to marry Elia instead, immediately insulting the Martells and cutting that diplomatic visit short. Having to go home again after that, Jaime briefly pulled Elia aside before they left and gave her a golden pendant with a lion carved in it. "I wish that I could have been your Prince, but it's not to be." He said as he kissed her hand like a true gentleman. She smiled as she briefly cupped his face and wished him well, before her mother called her as they had to leave and Elia quickly joined her and Oberyn.

Things after that did not go as expected, however and instead of the beautiful Cersei marrying the Crown Prince as she and her father expected, King Aerys humiliated Lord Tywin by letting Elia be wed to his son instead and despite being pretty much complete strangers to each other when they married and having been given very different upbringings, their relationship was relatively stable at first.

Ashara immediately accompanied her Princess to the capital from the moment she left to marry Prince Rhaegar and rarely left her side to help Elia keep her sanity in the stifling and poisonous court of King's Landing after the freedom of Dorne and gave anyone who dared to whisper about her a very fierce glare. She was actually the first one to hold her friend's children when they were born, giving them to their mother

Elia eventually gave birth to a daughter who was named Rhaenys and a son named Aegon, the former birth leaving her bedridden for six moons because of her delicate health and the latter almost killing her to the point where the maesters solemnly told her and her husband that she could no longer bear children. Still, she had done her duty by giving her husband a son and heir. Elia thought that would be enough, but she was very, very wrong and her reaction to the events that would transpire would change the course of history forever.

The moment her husband passed her over to instead crown Lyanna Stark as the Queen of Love and Beauty at the tourney at Harrenhal, Elia kept her dainty smile on her face for everyone now watching her for her reaction, Rhaenys pulling on her sleeve and asking why her papa didn't crown her with the roses. 'Because he's an idiot and he's going to get himself and us killed' Her mother thought.

People in the capital always underestimated her because of her delicate health as they forgot that while her body was frail, her mind and eyes were not not and she could see the lust her husband and the wolf-girl had for each other. The only thing she was hitting herself for was not noticing it sooner as Rhaegar had been awfully busy ever since he heard the news she could not bear children anymore.

She had honestly thought that he'd been busy planning to eventually take over the throne from his mad father, but what if he had been writing a girl already betrothed to someone else? She had to do something and fast. She started that very day by planting the idea of a match between Ashara and Ned Stark in the heads of the young man's family, both to have a trusted someone in the north and to get her friend out of there once things went south. She went back to King's Landing feeling betrayed and satisfied at the same time

From that fateful day on, she immediately began planning and take precautions under the noses of everyone in the entire capital to protect herself, Ashara and her children in the shitstorm that was almost definitely about to unleash across the continent. Rhaegar had officially shown his true colours that day at the tourney. He was not going to keep them safe now that his eyes had wandered.

When Rhaegar suddenly vanished into thin air with Lyanna Stark after leaving Elia at Dragonstone with their children on what was supposed to be a short trip with some lords a few months after Ashara's betrothal with Ned Stark was finalised with approval from both sides after Elia planted the idea and sealed and this threw the whole continent into rebellion, almost everyone was shocked except for Elia.

She had already seen the writing on the wall the moment that the man who had pledged to love and protect her until his dying day in front of all the Seven Kingdoms didn't even so much as look at her when he won the tourney, only having eyes for the wolf-girl and she was prepared for it. When she was summoned to King's Landing with her children to basically act as a hostage to ensure her family fighting for the Targaryens, the Princess simply turned to Ashara who was still there with her and said one thing to her. "Get the chest."

Ashara immediately nodded without a word as she understood what she meant. She and one other lady-in-waiting went to get a small chest out of a hidden corner of a forgotten room in Dragonstone. No one knew exactly how it had come into existence, only that it had suddenly appeared in Elia's room the moment she reached majority and only the Princess, her brothers and Ashara knew what was inside of it.

Elia then quickly ordered her to join her betrothed in the north as Aerys would undoubtedly kill her the moment she set foot in King's Landing to punish Ned for rebelling against him, never mind that he literally killed his father and brother and that it was a fair reaction. Ashara looked hesitant about leaving her, but Elia put her hands on her friend's shoulder. "Go! We'll be fine." She whispered and Ashara reluctantly bowed.

Waiting until she got official confirmation that her friend was safely hidden away in the north, Elia steeled herself and went back to King's Landing with her children, immediately getting locked up in all but the name in the Red Keep. An old friend she had in Oldtown managed to smuggle a message to her that Rhaegar not only had her marriage annulled, but he had married Lyanna Stark.... in Dorne.... using a Dornish priest and he was using the Tower of Joy in Dorne as a home. The letter burned in Elia's hands without a candle nearby. 

"Elia?" She heard a voice quietly ask one day and she immediately looked up to see Jaime Lannister, now a member of the King's Guard, carefully sneaking into her room as she was humming her sweet Rhaenys to sleep, Aegon already sleeping in his crib. "I am so sorry for everything that has been happening to you." Jaime whispered as he walked further into her chambers.

"Does the King know that you are here?" She asked him instead of replying to what he said and he quickly shook his head as he had used the excuse of needing to use the chamber pot to see her as Aerys kept him close to his side to keep Tywin in line. "In that case, I need you to tell me the schedule of the guards in front of my doors." She whispered and after frowning, he did exactly that before leaving. 

When Rhaegar finally returned to lead his army against Robert Baratheon and greeted her like he didn't let their marriage dissolve into absolutely nothing, Elia had to bite her lip and squeeze her free hand as hard as possible to not use the weapon always hidden in her sleeve now and say two words that had shaped her a very long time ago. Instead, she played the part of the loving wife, let him see the children he had abandoned and wished him luck. Holding her children, Elia watched him leave for the last time, simply knowing she would not see him again.

The moment they heard Rhaegar had been killed in battle by Robert Baratheon, Elia immediately put her own plan into motions as well as she opened the chest and pulled out a very special cloak. A cloak that she had inherited from a man long dead and who would immediately have tried to kill Rhaegar for how he had treated her. "Seems like you will save my life again dad." She whispered with a smile as she got ready. 

That night, the guards in front of her doors switched shifts once again, the replacements taking their sweet time in arriving as they both knew that the door was locked at night. Therefore, no one was around as the lock clicked and the door slowly opened and closed again, but with no one seemingly getting out and no one was around to hear footsteps quietly sneaking away from the room, not to return for many years.

The next day, the forces of Tywin Lannister completely sacked the city and created huge chaos with so many of the the smallfolk being hurt in the process. One particularly brutal soldier named Gregor Clegane harshly burst into the rooms of Elia and her children to deal with them in his own way... only to find absolutely nothing but an empty room with a lot of personal stuff missing as well. His roar of anger was heard through the entire keep as on the sea, a small ship quietly sailed away from the city with a small family of three on board.

Jaime killed the insane King after he tried to destroy the whole city by using wildfire to explode everything and Robert Baratheon officially took the throne, even though he was absolutely furious at hearing that the Princess and her "dragonspawn" had actually managed to escape even if no one knew how she had done it while in Dorne, Oberyn and Doran were both relieved and worried for their sister.

In the chaos after the rebellion, no one really took much notice as Olenna Tyrell took a war widow and her two young children into her home as she quickly waved it off as nothing more than charity. Both Ashara in the north and the Princes in Dorne eventually got a single note with nothing but the Martell sun and spear on it, but it was enough for them as it assured them all that Elia was okay.

In Highgarden, a disguised Elia used her old wand to gently and silently entertain her children in their new rooms, having used her magic to change their features after using her old invisibility cloak to get out of there. It had not been easy to sneak out with her frail body and a three year year old in one arm, a baby in her other and a bag with their most important things on her back, even with the cloak, a featherlight charm on her children and the bag as well as an expansion spell on the bag after Ashara or rather Hermione had taught her. 

Neither of the women knew exactly why they were the only ones from their old lives who had come here as far as they knew, but they were certainly not complaining as Ashara had managed to send a ship to a small corner of King's Landing to pick them up and not a moment too soon as the now former Princess had watched the city being sackedand had heard the screams of men, women and children.

It had definitely broken her heart to hear those screams of fear and pain, but she was a mother now and her children came first before anything. She had died young before thanks to Voldemort and had decided to take the train, only to end up in a premature body and get married to an unfaithful husband. Poor Rhaenys kept asking after her father, not fully understanding that he was gone for good.

Thankfully, no one looked up very weird at her asking where her father was thanks to Olenna's story of her being a war widow and half-orphans, which was technically true as she had lost her former husband. Aegon was way too young to understand what was going on, but Rhaenys was missing her father and asked every day when he was coming back, despite the news of his death having arrived in the capital before they left. Elia sighed every time she got the question as she knew Rhaenys would never see her father again. 

It took a few months before things fully died down and Elia finally dared to go back home to Dorne. Officially requesting an audience with the Princes of Dorne with Olenna's help, she was quickly granted it. Going home for the first time in years and walking into the sitting room after being led there by a guard, Elia gulped as she wondered how she would explain who she was even if they knew about her magic.

It turned out that she really didn't need to worry about any of it as her two brothers simply took one look at her and her children and already knew who they were as Oberyn almost tackled her into a hug as he cried in relief at realising she really was alive. Doran joined them as well and Elia relaxed like she had not been able to in a long time. She and her precious children were finally as safe as possible 

Because they all knew that Robert would keep an eye on the Martells to see if Elia would eventually go back home where she would be safe, even if she had done exactly that without him knowing, the Princess and both her children were quickly given a small but secure keep by the sea but near the palace in case that they needed help after Elia wrote to Olenna to thank her for everything she had done and Olenna told her that she was more than welcome as the bond between the Martells and Tyrells suddenly became a lot stronger.

Ashara eventually wrote her a letter once they managed to establish a safe way of communicating without others noticing what was really being written, the woman now officially Lady of Winterfell with Lysa Tully married to Jon Arryn and her sister to Stannis. She told her friend that Ned had come back from the south right after the rebellion with his sister's body and a baby in his arms, everyone saying it was his bastard son.

But Ashara, who had already heard of where Rhaegar had taken his new bride after insulting her friend in the worst way from Elia herself, knew the boy wasn't his but Lyanna's and Rhaegar's child and now asked Elia what she wanted her to do about it, knowing now that not only had Rhaegar shamed her oldest friend right in front of everyone, he had even managed to conceive a new child with his new wife.

Elia thought long and hard about this, tapping her quil against the parchment while a visiting Oberyn gently played with her children to distract them while their mother was busy. Eventually making a decision about this, she wrote back and told Ashara to raise the boy right together with Ned as he was just an innocent baby and couldn't help his parentage anymore than others could and if her friend could make sure he did not make the same mistakes, then that was good enough for her. Ashara reluctantly agreed with this decision.

Not too long after that, two more children eventually came to live in the small keep as Elia carefully managed to get an eleven year old Viserys and three year old Daenerys back to Westeros and into her keepafter having been given permission from their guardian as he had already started to get old and Elia had seen in his servants' minds that they would abandon the children the moment he died.

Rhaella had been one of the very few genuinely nice people back when she lived in King's Landing who had been her friend, so if Elia could keep her youngest children safe from any potential harm in the future and raise them well, then her old friend could hopefully rest in peace. She did quickly learn to use her magic to silence Viserys when he began to loudly demand his crown and throne back, 

She immediately sat him down in his room and very bluntly told him that if he continued on shouting like that and word about them eventually reached Robert Baratheon's ears, he would soon lose his head together with all of them for hiding the two, asking if he wanted to die before he even reached his twentieth year and Viserys slowly shook his head in answer. "Then for the sake of your own life as well as everyone else: be patient and keep your mouth shut." She told him and he seemingly agreed, but she quickly put a small spell on him to be safe.

One day after a few years had passed with the ages of the disguised children now ranging from about fifteen to six years old, Elia was spending time with her brothers while the children played with each other when a very special guest was announced: Jaime Lannister. The man had asked Robert to resign him from the King's Guard for his inability to keep Elia safe and had come to beg forgiveness.

Doran shared a look with Elia at this and got a tiny nod in answer and he nodded back. "Thank you for your honesty and bravery, ser Jaime, but you do not need to worry about her. My sister managed to get herself and her children out right before the city was sacked and is now living safely somewhere here in Dorne. I expect you will not tell your King about this." He said and Jaime immediately promised. 

The relief in his eyes at hearing that she and her children were okay was incredibly clear and the disguised woman smiled at seeing it as Jaime was allowed to stay for a few days and after a bit of thinking and discussing it with both her brothers, Elia eventually knocked on his door and asked to be let in. "I will not be here for long, Ser Jaime. I just really wanted to thank you." She said with Jaime asking what she was thanking him for. "Telling me the schedule of the guards." She replied and she clearly could see the moment he realised who she was.

That was the day the last person in a while was told about her magic and immediately sworn to secrecy as the Princess and former knight slowly grew closer to each other over time. As years passed and Elia raised the four children, two hers by blood and two by heart, the game was still being played outside of Dorne as Robert Baratheon married Cersei instead and had one son named Joffrey with her.

Elia honestly felt pity for the boy as he would likely be ignored by his father and spoiled rotten by his mother and that could not be good for the realm in the future. In the meantime, Tywin tried to get Jaime to marry so he would get heirs to Casterly Rock, being very insistent on him marrying daughters of his bannermen to ensure they would stay loyal. In both desperation and frustration, Jaime did something very unlike him.

Under an excuse, he went back to Dorne and after asking permission of Oberyn and Doran and eventually receiving it after they shared a look, he went to the keep where Elia lived with the four children and asked if he could speak to her in private. "My father wants me to marry a noble lady, but I already know that I would be miserable for the rest of my life, especially since my heart has already been given to someone else. Elia Martell, will you trust me to take care of you from this day, until the end of my days?' He asked and Elia widened her eyes.

Biting her lip as she briefly looked into his mind (she had already been burned once before and she refused to let it happen again now that she was risking her life every day and had double the children to protect than she did back in King's Landing) she saw something that immediately disgusted her and felt like a giant punch in the gut after the way she and Jaime had grown closer over the past few years.

"Well, that depends on your answer to my question. Am I the woman you had given your heart to or is it your sister?" She asked and Jaime widened her eyes in shock as she pulled away and took a few steps back. "I have been second place to another woman before. Unless you can swear to me that you and Cersei are past history, I would rather guard my heart from getting shattered again." She told him. 

Jaime left the keep for a few days as he really had to think about what she had said and realising she was right to not immediately accept his proposal after everything she had been through, before returning to the keep once again with a determined look in his eyes as he kneeled in front of Elia and swore by all the gods that she would now be the only woman in his life and she finally accepted his proposal after using her magic to see if he was completely sincere, much to the anger of Viserys as Jaime was the one who had killed his father.

It wasn't as bad as it probably would have been a few years before as with help and guidance from Elia and the other Martells, the former Prince had slowly come to accept that his father had not been a good man as he had thought. Still, it still understandably took him a long time to accept the man who had killed his father into his family, but he realised if it meant his family would be safer, it had to happen.

Jaime and Elia got rather hastily married in a tiny ceremony that couldn't be more different than Elia's first wedding with Jaime having smuggled out the Lannister cloak when he left for Dorne and draping it over his new bride's shoulders. To keep her identity a secret, Doran had given his sister a small, noble title with the excuse that her late husband had saved Oberyn's life during the rebellion at the cost of this own life. 

Looking up at her new husband once she had been cloaked by him and they had said their vows, Elia silently prayed to all the gods she knew that she wasn't making another terrible  mistake like last time as she kissed him and her family applauded them. "Your father will be absolutely furious with you when he hears of this. You could have had any lady you wanted and you take a widow who doesn't even have an official title as far as he knows." She muttered once she pulled away from the kiss and he chuckled as he replied he deserved it

He had already heard his father ordering his soldiers to "take care" of Elia and her children during the sack of King's Landing to quickly prove their loyalty to the new Baratheon dynasty and how Clegane had been the one to find their thankfully empty rooms first and he also knew the man's reputation. He honestly dreaded to think what would have happened to them if they had still been there.

He also remembered being so incredibly disappointed when his father had rejected the offer of marriage between him and Elia all those years ago, so to finally have her as his wife anyway made him feel happier than he had in a very long time. He would not fail her and her children again like he had back in King's Landing. She was now his by marriage and he would not betray her like Rhaegar had. 

As they had already expected, Tywin was absolutely furious when the news about their marriage finally reached him as he had apparently sent Jaime to the Martells to make peace with them after rumours had sprung to life about how Clegane had wanted to finish Elia and her children and now, he was suddenly married to a seeming nobody who had four children already, Daenerys and Aegon often posing as twins because of their very similar age. He demanded that Jaime annulled his marriage that instant, but Jaime immediately refused. 

When Tywin harshly threatened to disown him if he didn't dissolve the marriage immediately and come back to Casterly Rock where he belonged, Jaime calmly wrote back to his father and simply dared him to do it with his wife's advice and the old lion steamed as they all knew that if he did actually disown his oldest son, he would immediately be forced to make Tyrion his heir and that was the last thing he wanted.

He told Jaime to not show his or his wife's face in the Westerlands for at least a year as he had just been made a laughing stock in the nobility by the marriage and that was just fine with the couple, but what Elia had not expected was the arrival of one furious Ashara Stark with her three oldest children when she heard about the news. And boy, did she have some words to say to her oldest friend.

"Have you completely lost your mind?! We have been trying to protect you and all four children from the Lannisters and Baratheons for years and you just go and bind yourself to the most dangerous family in all of Westeros?! What were you thinking, you idiot?!" She immediately demanded to know once she had pulled Elia back to speak with her in private. Elia quietly replied that she had thought she finally deserved some happiness and was tired of being a single mother to four children, even if two of them were her former goodsiblings.

She then also reminded her friend that she indeed was constantly risking her life every single day while Ashara was safe while living with the man Robert trusted more than almost anyone and they had to be very careful every day as they slowly managed to gain more allies over time thanks to her brothers, but she just wanted a bit of happiness and love in her life that even the four children couldn't give her.

Ashara fell quiet during the explanation as her anger melted away since she realised her friend was right and apologised for her anger. The next day, the two women met with Jaime, Doran and Oberyn and began to plan for the future of the children, deciding to quietly engage Viserys to Doran's daughter Arianne and since the two of them had grown up together, both sides did not really mind this decision.

Rhaenys would be eventually engaged to Ashara's second son Sirius (the woman herself quietly smiling at her friend at the name as they both knew the origin of the name.) Her oldest son Brandon, named in honour of his late uncle since he had been the one to introduced the two in the first place, had already been unofficially betrothed to Erena Glover to strengthen the ties in the north. Daenerys and Aegon's future partners were less clear, but Doran assured them that with the two betrothals they had made, they had time.

Like her father, Cersei was absolutely furious at hearing the news about her brother being married to some unimportant war widow who had gotten a minor title simply because of something her late husband did and tried to convince him to come back to her as she didn't want to be stuck with Robert who spent more time drinking and whoring his way through King's Landing and had called her Lyanna while drunk.

Jaime refused and now he was further away from his father and sister and the longer he spent with his wife, he started to truly realise how messed up his family was and cling tighter to Elia. The fact Elia couldn't have children anymore didn't bother him in the slightest as he knew he could wait until Robert was drunk and have him sign a document letting him adopt Aegon as his heir.

Going back to Winterfell once betrothal business was concluded for now and she had caught up with her friend and godchildren, Ashara gently sat her husband down and told him the truth about Elia and her children and the unofficial betrothals. Seeing the panic in his eyes, she smiled at him to calm him down. "Jon is hers, isn't he? Not yours, but Lyanna's. You sacrificed your honour to keep your nephew safe. Considering the size of the secret I have been keeping, i would be a hypocrite if I got angry at you for keeping this small one." She said.

He clung onto her hand and held it against her forehead as he apologised for lying to her and making her think he was unfaithful to her. "You can apologise by promising to help us take back the throne and to never betrothe any of our children to the Baratheon's. From what I have learned about Cersei, I highly doubt that her kids are actually his." She told him and after staring at her in shock, he promised. 

"You are aware that saying that is treason." He then said with a tiny smile on his face, testing the waters and she quickly shot back with "no, that's reason." He laughed, before kissing her hand as he apologised once more and she smiled at him as she rested her forehead against his. She knew that one way or another, difficult times would be ahead of them and they had to be united if they wanted to survive.

While Elia and Doran quietly planned and plotted together for the future of their children as they were the brains of them all, Oberyn and Jaime banded together and focused more on the present as they both raised and trained the children in several different kinds of fighting, even the girls as they knew all four needed to be able to defend themselves in the future. Even Viserys was suitably impressed by Jaime's prowess as the two adults sparred together often. Oberyn grinned happily whenever he got beaten as he already liked Jaime a lot more than Rhaegar

Unlike the now dead Prince, Jaime had actually learned from his mistakes and was trying to be better this time around  by cutting off contact with almost his entire family, not giving into their demands and manipulations and letting the whole playing of the Game over to his wife while he made sure the children were safe while she and Doran were discussing their next steps. Oberyn could definitely respect that

And when a very tired Elia came home late in the afternoon or early in the evening after a very long day of discussions with her brother about what was the best for their family, allies and people over the next few years, Jaime and the children were always there to help her unwind with Jaime holding onto his wife until she felt better again. Elia made sure to thank him properly once the children were asleep 

Eventually hearing from Oberyn that Jon Connington had actually contacted him and Doran with a young child that he claimed was secretly her son somehow taken out of the city and that he claimed she and her daughter had secretly died that day and that the story of her having disappeared were rumours created by the Lannisters to cover up their murder, Elia felt rage filling her like she had not felt in a long time. Yes, her children had been taken out of the city, but she had done that. She had made sure her children were safe and not him.

How dare he try and lie to both her brothers that he had her son just to try and gain the throne for his own gain?! It's that they knew the truth She told Oberyn to invite Ser Connington and the young man to Sunspear so they could meet them. To her slight but genuine surprise, the man actually agreed and came to Sunspear where she would hide in a corner under the invisibility cloak and watch the conversation 

By this point, over a decade had already passed since the devastating rebellion that shook the continent and their hidden plans were slowly ramping up as preparations to marry Arianne and Viserys once the time was right were underway, but they needed to get rid of this pretender before any confusion could happen. The fact that the Baratheon-Lannister alliance was incredibly powerful was also a problem 

Tywin had eventually decided not to disown Jaime as his heir as his utter hatred for Tyrion eventually won out over his anger and humiliation of his oldest son marrying a "nobody" even if only marginally. He had already told his son not to show his wife at Casterly Rock unless he wanted "something" to happen to her. Elia had immediately warded the entire keep just in case as she knew that Tywin did not make empty threats. With Ashara's help. she had also created protective jewelry for the children that they still wore to this day

Elia had honestly never really liked Jon Connington before when she lived in King's Landing and he had definitely never liked her in return as he clearly had an unrequited crush on Rhaegar and hated that she was officially married to him, but seeing him walking in with a smug smile on his face as if already certain he could convince her brothers the child with him was her son made her hate him even more

She sneered at him from underneath her invisibility cloak, before looking at the poor boy he had likely been raising to see himself as the future king of Westeros. On first glance, she had to admit that he looked like her son, but several details were wrong. She would not be surprised if the boy had some Targaryen or maybe Velaryon ancestry in his blood, but that's where the similarities ended

Quickly paying attention to the conversation when Doran spoke up, she had to admire the way her older brother did not let the fact that he knew Connington was lying through his teeth about this being his nephew show on his face as he asked him exactly how he had managed to get "Aegon" out of the city and why he hadn't done the same for their sister and niece. Connington made up a whole story about how he had been too late to save them, but how Elia had secretly hidden a sleeping "Aegon" in a chest and he had taken him out out there. 

Elia realised that he had likely seen the empty chest that had contained her invisibility cloak and wand and had made a whole story about it. Connington then told her brothers that they had the Golden Company behind them and they had even found four dragon eggs they were trying to hatch, this last part catching their attention. Connington admitted someone had tried to steal one egg but had been stopped

Doran asked if they could see those eggs in person, knowing that with four Targaryens living right there in Dorne, they could all have one dragon if they actually managed to hatch. Connington first demanded they swore loyalty to their "nephew" and Elia wrote something in the air behind his back with her wand. "We will join you for a long as there is no proof you are lying to us." Oberyn said and he agreed with that

A few weeks later, he really was back once more with a huge chest that contained four massive dragon eggs and the moment they had them, Elia slowly peeked out from where she was again underneath the cloak, only this time with her children, Viserys and Daenerys currently in the other room, waiting for the right moment. Doran glanced at Areo who walked out of the room for a moment and all three snakes noticed Connington flinching when he walked past. The reason they had chosen this room was because it had only one entrance

"It is a very interesting story you have told us before about what exactly happened that day in King's Landing, lord Connington. Especially since we have heard a very different story about what happened to my sister and her babes several years ago." Oberyn stated as he slowly pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and Connington asked what that story was with a scoff as Elia got ready.

"That our sister actually managed to get herself and her children out of the city almost completely by herself with only minimal help from Jaime Lannister and Ashara Stark in the north and has lived safely here in Dorne for the better part of the decade." Oberyn said with a smirk on his face and Connington laughed as he asked who had told him that nonsense story and Elia removed her cloak.

"I did." She said in response and Connington stiffened up as he slowly turned around with the boy, utter shock on his face. "How dare you, Connington?! How dare you use this child and pretend he's my son?! How dare you lie to both my brothers and say he's your nephew?!" She hissed, stopping the boy when he called her his mother. " I'm not your mother, little one. You are not my son. You are not the baby I carried for nine months and almost died giving birth too. I'm sorry but I'm afraid your guardian has lied to you your whole life." She said.

Her tone was a bit softer than it was when she talked with Connington as this poor boy definitely could not help the fact that he had constantly been manipulated into thinking he was someone else his whole life. While she was talking, Oberyn had snuck up from behind Connington and when the man seemed to pull his weapon, he already had a dagger at his throat before he could do anything more. 

"Long sword is a bad option in close quarters. Now, I believe that my sister asked you a question." He said in a dangerous tone as Connington froze up at feeling the dagger at his throat as he raised his hands in surrender and a returned Areo took the boy into custody to make sure he would not attack his royals. Connington admitted that wanted to take the throne back in the name of the Targaryens.

"That doesn't mean that you should go around pretending to have my baby with you when you very clearly do not. The poor thing should count himself lucky that we stopped this whole entire nonsense while he's still a child. Although, I will thank you for bringing the Golden Company into play. That was something even we had not thought about. Now, you will face judgement by the King himself and don't worry, you will not be able to tell anyone about me being here even if you tried." Elia said as she tapped his head with her wand.

Guards then walked in and took him into custody while Young Griff would be taken to a spacious room where he was still kept under guard until they could figure out what to do with him. It did help that he actually apologised immediately to Elia and her family for taking part in this ruse. It seemed that with the proof that he was not who he had been told he was, he quickly backed off and they could appreciate that. 

They would eventually find a nice family living near Sunspear for him to be raised like a completely normal boy while Doran secretly contacted the Golden Company and carefully explained the full situation and the mercenaries agreed to fight at their side once the time was ripe. In the meantime, the four Targaryens curiously inspected their new eggs as they had enough for all of them.

Elia briefly wondered if Fiendfyre would actually be enough to properly hatch them as opposed to wildfire but she also knew that doing so would definitely be an even bigger risk than already having four of the last six Targaryens in Westeros with the other ones being young Jon Snow and the kind Aemon Targaryen at the Wall who unfortunately had no idea his family still lived on. Unless they found a safe place where the dragons could be hidden away as they grew, perhaps somewhere in the north, it was too dangerous for now.

With the secret alliance of Martell, Tyrell and Stark slowly growing stronger every day as Mace's daughter Margaery was betrothed to Aegon with the promise that she would be Queen once they had thrown over the Baratheon dynasty as Viserys had eventually grown to be content with being the Prince Consort of Dorne under Elia's tutelage and guidance, preparations for a new rebellion war were made.

Not that Robert honestly made it very hard as he soon made himself more and more unpopular in and around the realm by just focusing on drinking and feasting and creating more and more bastards across the Seven Kingdoms rather than actually ruling the realm and it was only because of the wisdom of Jon Arryn that apart from the the Greyjoys rebelling, the realms did not dissolve into chaos.... yet. 

As Jon Arryn grew older and older and they knew that once he died, chaos would soon follow in the whole continent, Elia decided to finally take the risk as she took the four children up north and used Fiendfyre to try and hatch the eggs in a cave a few miles from Winterfell and a few seconds later, there were four new dragons in the world. Rhaenys named hers Elerin after her mother, Aegon named his Dagara as a pun since daggers were his favourite weapons because of his uncle's guidance. Viserys named his dragon Rhellan after his own mother.

Daenerys thought very deeply about the name of her black dragon as she knew it would have it for the rest of its life, before deciding to name it after a creature in one of her favourite stories: Thordak. With Ashara and Ned on their side despite Robert being his old friend as the man had never agreed with the King's focus on trying to find and kill Elia and her children, they were free to stay in the north as long as possible.

Raising the dragons with Elia always ready with a shield spell in case their fire went the wrong way or the killing curse if the worst case scenario happened, the woman herself wasn't sure what to feel about Jon Snow, her children's half-brother. Aegon and Rhaenys were mostly cordial with him, now old enough to know his mother was the reason their father had left them to rot in King's Landing. 

They also knew that he was not to blame for his parent's actions, but the sting was definitely still there when they remembered how exactly he had come into existence. "I remember papa promising to be back soon after his trip and that he would bring back a present and then, he ran away with Jon's mother without either of them caring about what would happen to us." Rhaenys muttered to her mother one evening and Elia gently pulled her closer to comfort her. The Princess closed her eyes as realising her daughter was now fifteen

Arianne and Viserys had already gotten married about two years before with Viserys pretending to be a distant cousin of the Allyrions, more and more houses having been made aware of their Princesses' and Prince's survival over the years and being utterly relieved as they got ready to fight for Elia once more and being more than willing to play along. The Princess herself wondered when exactly her children grew up. 

As the dragons grew up and grew stronger every day with their fires growing hotter as well, it began to get harder and harder to hide them behind wards and their roars when their riders had to leave became almost impossible to disguise. Still, they somehow managed until the dragons were as big as the castle of Winterfell and grew even more. Still, it was only a matter of time before things would explode.

About a year after the disguised woman and Targaryens came to live in Winterfell to raise their dragons in secret, they received the news that Jon Arryn had passed away and the King was already riding north to Winterfell right after Ned beheaded a deserter from the Night's Watch who talked about seeing the White Walkers. The Lord Paramount of the North wanted to dismiss his claims as the Others were just folk tales until his wife cleverly pointed out dragons used to be tales as well and they now had four living just a few miles away. 

Realising that she was right about this, Ned quietly promised to make preparations once they had dealt with the whole throne situation. As the King and his household approached, Elia was suddenly glad that Jaime was still safely back in Dorne to look after their small keep and help Doran and Oberyn plan for any eventualities at remembering that Cersei was coming along too.

She quickly impressed upon the children, even if they weren't really children anymore as they had all reached their teens now, on how important it was to school their reactions when the King was around. Robert was a drunkard, but he was definitely no fool. The moment he saw any of them glaring at him while he was sober enough to notice it, there would be hell to pay for all of them. She hoped her spells would hold up. 

Ashara had felt rather awkward showing her six children, seven if you included Jon in front of her friend, but Elia had gently reminded her that she basically saw Viserys and Daenerys as her children too, even if she knew that she would never replace Rhaella and while she had only borne two children from her own body, she had eventually lived with a decently sized family anyway and Ashara immediately relaxed at that as she felt more comfortable introducing her children Brandon, Sirius, Alys and Aranne Jory and Serena

"You have done your duty and more, my friend. You should be very proud." Elia told her friend and Ashara immediately beamed as she said she did feel more than proud whenever she saw her precious children. They both knew they'd likely never see their old friends and family ever again, but they had made new lives for themselves and they simply knew their loved ones were proud of them, 

When the King arrived in Winterfell, Elia and her children immediately kept themselves as far to the background as they could. Seeing a man with rather similar features to Cersei and Jaime riding next to Prince Joffrey and later learning he was their second cousin or something, Elia made a face as if was pretty clear to her that her husband had been replaced in Cersei's bed and she was both relieved and disgusted.

Most of the King's visit to the North went off without a hitch as Ned accepted the position of Hand after getting his wife's approval as Ashara knew their info about the capital was outdated and they needed new information, having taught her husband the political games they played in the south over the decades of their marriage to try and prepare him for this, teaching him to never trust anyone but himself. Alys was betrothed to Prince Joffrey as she was the oldest of the Stark twins, despite her father's promise about not making a betrothal between them. 

Unlike in a completely different universe where Elia, her children and Ashara had died and Ned had married Catelyn Tully where their oldest daughter was already dreaming of having a fairytale romance with the Crown Prince, Alys was a lot more careful and skeptical as she had been raised by the ever practical Ashara who knew that any child raised by Cersei would be a brat at best or a psycho at worst.

In any case, the two women immediately kept the rest of their children far away from the Queen and Prince without it looking rude. Not too long after that, Ned, Jory, Alys and Aranne left for the capital while the rest of the Starks stayed behind to look after Winterfell. Five year old Serena really did not like being the only Stark girl left, only the presence of Rhaenys and Daenerys soothing her.

Things completely went to hell very soon after as Robert suddenly died in a hunting accident and Ned was arrested right after for treason by Joffrey, the spoiled brat technically being more right than he knew and Alys was also forced to write a letter to her family by Cersei, telling them to come to King's Landing and swear fealty. Getting a bad case of deja vú, as they remembered the Mad King and the original Brandon's fate, Ashara and Elia noticed the first letter of every sentence spelled out a word: "DRACARYS"

The incredibly smug looks on both Cersei's and Joffrey's faces at thinking they had won over their enemies very quickly fell not too long after that letter when they suddenly had four dragons flying over the city, roaring so loudly they could have heard it all the way back at Casterly Rock with four of the six remaining Targaryens riding their backs together with their mother/mother figure and Ashara.

On the ground, the combined forces of the North, Reach, Dorne, the Riverlands, the Golden Company and even the Stormlands soon gathered at the gates after both Renly Baratheon and Lord Tully had immediately joined the already marching forces south at seeing the dragons. Even Cersei was not that stupid to continue fighting and the city very quickly surrendered to the incoming forces

The former Queen's face when she saw that Jaime was actually one of the people leading the opposing forces was absolutely hilarious as the captive Starks were quickly released and an incredibly relieved Ashara refused to let them go for several minutes after getting off Dagara's back. Elia carefully got off Elerin with her daughter and was just about to smile at the lovely sight when she heard a furious roar and saw a mountain of a man storming towards her and she immediately pulled Rhaenys behind her and readied her magic. 

It turned out to not be necessary as less than a second later, Elerin harshly crushed him underneath her paw and tore his head clean off for threatening both her rider and her rider's bearer. "That was just stupid." Elia muttered as she and Rhaenys fully relaxed again and Jaime hurried over to pull them close. They knew not everyone would be on their side and they would have to act fast before the realms devolved into more chaos.

Tywin Lannister was even more enraged as he realised that the "nobody" his son had married years before had been Elia Martell all along and who had hidden the last Targaryens right underneath everyone's noses for more than a decade. However, there was nothing even he could do to the might of dragons and he was captured, tried and executed for all the deaths during the Sack of King's Landing.

His daughter Cersei soon followed him in this when she stupidly tried to poison Elia and the Princess herself turned to her husband to see if he was okay with this and he took a deep breath in response. "They made their beds long ago. Now, they must lie in it." He said as he held her hand tightly and she smiled as she quickly pulled him into a hug. Fittingly enough, Casterly Rock did actually go to Tyrion after that as Jaime didn't want it anymore. The little keep they lived in that Elia had unofficially named "Hogwarts" was his home now. 

Once their allies were mostly settled down after they took over the capital, Jaime soon found his wife in what had been her chambers before she had escaped, "I remember being so incredibly scared of anything going wrong and getting caught, my weak body not helping, that I almost fainted from exhaustion whe we managed to reach the boat Ashara's had procured for us." She muttered at hearing him enter.

He immediately walked over and hugged her from behind, gently kissing her dark hair to comfort her as much as possible. "Well, I have never been so very glad that you listened to your gut and got yourself and your children to safety as I dread to think what would have happened if you didn't." He said and she replied that Aegon and Rhaenys were just as much his children now as he had seen them grow up.

He had been the one to see them grow into their own selves and have their first crushes. He had been the one who had carefully explained to Aegon and Viserys what exactly a boy went through in his journey to manhood. He had been the one together with Oberyn who had taught them and the other two how to defend themselves and he was the one they always looked to for approval when they managed something. As far as Elia and her children were concerned, Jaime was the father of Rhaenys, Aegon, Viserys and Daenerys in all but blood

The youngest of Cersei's children were given almost complete mercy as they were complete innocents in all of this and Elia refused to kill innocents. She had planned to give the very same to Joffrey, but the boy loudly raged about how they had stolen his throne from him and how he would soon get his revenge and how he'd take Rhaenys as his wife by force and that was the wrong thing to say

Elia's eyes immediately darkened in rage at hearing him saying this as she loudly ordered the guards to take him back to his cell and they immediately obeyed as they dragged the screaming and struggling boy away from the throne. That evening, Joffrey "Baratheon" suddenly disappeared from his cell and only Princess Elia's assurance that she took care of it stopped the others from panicking about it.

Around the same time, a blond boy with absolutely no memory was found in the woods by a noble family in volantis on the other side of the sea and when he instinctively began to demand things of them once he felt better as that was just second nature to him, they immediately put him to work around their home instead and he never bothered anyone in Westeros again. He also would always have to pee sitting down as his prick was shrunk to an unnaturally small size. You simply did not threaten Elia's children and got away with it, no matter your age

After stabilising the realm as much as possible with Aegon quickly being crowned King like he should always have known would eventually happen in the future if not for his father being an idiot and asking those who were not part of their allies to bend the knee to their new King and after pretty much everyone did so, including the Vale and the Iron Islands, the eyes of Elia and the others moved north. 

Elia suddenly remembered very old carvings in the caves underneath Dragonstone about the Others, Stannis having immediately surrendered it back to the Targaryens where it belonged all along, if only to spare his wife and son. In return, he was given Storm's End after Renly had eventually agreed to give it to him while the youngest brother used this opportunity to be closer to Loras Tyrell.

Finding both the carvings and dragonglass, they immediately went to work creating the strongest weapons from it and learning about everything they could to prepare themselves for what was ahead of them. They prepared for at least two years before they felt even a tiny bit ready to head north as the dragons had grown even more in the meantime and with the biggest army the realm had seen in a very long time, they slowly marched further north than many had before, briefly stopping at the Wall to greet the Night's Watch.

Elia, her children plus Viserys and Daenerys took the opportunity to visit Aemon. "Ser, do you know who i am?" Elia asked and Aemon admitted he didn't, but he'd heard he roar of the dragons and the news they had a new King. "My name is Elia Lannister. I used to be married to Rhaegar Targaryen and my children by him as well as Viserys and Rhaella's final child Daenerys are here too." She said. 

The poor man immediately burst into tears at realising that his family had actually survived the seeming fall of their house, thanking Elia over and over again for saving them from their fate through his tears. "It was not a problem, maester Aemon. I simply did what any good mother would do." She replied as she rubbed his back and let him cry it out with her children all smiling at the man as well.

Once everyone was ready as they could ever be, the army of almost all the Seven Kingdoms, the Golden Company and the Night's Watch slowly marched through the wall with the dragons flying overhead, Elia and Ashara having to stay back with part of their army for their own safety as Elia was simply too weak to go further, even with her magic. There was almost a problem with the Wildlings living there as they went to attack the army, until said wildlings found out that the huge army and dragons were not for them, but for a far greater threat

Several of their warriors joining them at realising how serious this was. It took a few more days before the dragons suddenly roared and flew off into a certain direction without input from their riders as they sensed something, the army quickly following. Crossing a mountain, they saw a huge army of wights and White Walkers with many staring in shock at seeing they truly were real. Thordak released his first jet of fire and the battle was on. 

Using fire, dragonglass and everything else they had in their power, the Kingdom army fought the undead for many hours while the dragons constantly rained fire down upon the monsters. With all four of them having riders who paid attention to their surroundings while they destroyed the undead, both Dagara and Rhellan managed to avoid getting speared by the Night King when he tried to bring them down.

Seeing her younger brother's dragon barely avoid getting hit by Aegon harshly moving them to the left at the very last minute and suddenly remembering something that she had read about a theory that if you destroyed the source of the White Walkers, you'd destroy them all and realising that source was likely the Night King, Rhaenys turned to her brother, aunt and uncle.

"The King! Destroy the King and we might destroy the army!" She shouted in High Valyrian and as the Night King looked away to get another spear, he found himself surrounded by four dragons. "Dracarys!" Their riders all shouted and four streams of dragonfire hit him and his commanders at the same time with the entire army immediately falling apart the moment he got destroyed. Realising they had won, the Kingdom army cheered as the dragons roared their victory to the heavens.

Back on the wall, Elia had constantly watched the icy surroundings from the top of it for days as she waited for the army and more importantly, her family to come back, her guards almost having to carry her down every evening as she'd sleep on top of the wall if she could. Two weeks after the army had left, the two women were spending time with Aemon when they heard a familiar roar in the distance.

Hurrying outside at hearing this, they arrived just in time to see four dragons flying overhead with the army slowly following and despite the cold and snow and Elia's still fragile health, even if she now used magic to help strengthen her body, they rushed forward to try and find their loved ones in the mass. Thankfully, Oberyn was easy to spot as he jumped from his horse and caught his sister into a hug.

Jaime was not far away from house goodbrother and was next to catch his wife as she loudly cried in nothing but utter relief at finally having them back with her once more and he held her tightly to his chest, relief flooding his own body as well at realising that he had truly managed to survive the impossible. Rocking her back-and-forth, he gently assured her that he was right there with her as Ashara found her own husband and oldest son, tackling them both into a hug and making all three of them fall into the snow, not that they minded

"Excuse me?! Do the saviours of everyone on this continent not get a hug as well?" They then heard Viserys loudly demand to know of them as the four of the six remaining Targaryens carefully dismounted from their dragons and Elia immediately chuckled as she let her husband go, walked over and held them all tightly to her chest, kissing all of their faces in relief at seeing they were okay.

Aegon, Rhaenys, Viserys and Daenerys all smiled at getting her kisses, the latter two having grown to see her as their mother just as much as their niece and nephew. There were of course casualties on their side as well, but Elia's closest allies had all survived. Going back south where Doran had looked after the Iron Throne and the entire kingdom while most of the army was gone, they announced the threat was over to the people. 

Relaxing once peace finally returned in the realm now that all the threats were gone and her family was put to rule the Seven Kingdoms once more with Aegon and Margaery being a very good King and Queen thanks to her and Olenna's guidance and their own experiences. Finding out that the realm was actually in very deep debt to the Iron bank thanks to the previous Master of Coin, some slippery fellow named Littlefinger, Elia almost banged her head on the table repeatedly if not for Jaime physically stopping her by holding onto her shoulders.

Using a bit of magic on their representatives, the Iron Bank was convinced to give them more time to repay them as now that peace had finally returned, they could make more money to give back to the bank. Elia practically collapsed in her husband's arms when negotiations were completely done. "I'm tired." She whispered as he carried her to their guest rooms and he chuckled as he nuzzled her dark hair. 

"After everything that you have done for our family and the realm in the past few decades without many even knowing, you're definitely allowed to feel tired, my darling. You have worked so very hard to protect those you love. You can rest now and let your brothers and friends handle everything." He whispered and she hummed as she admitted it did feel nice to finally relax and not care about anything.

He gently carried her to the bed and put her down on it as he tucked her in, her grabbing his hand when he went to leave the room. Understanding what she meant without her needing to say a word, he quickly joined her in the bed and held her close to his chest. "Jaime?" She eventually asked after a few minutes had passed and he hummed to show that he was listening. "Do you mind the fact that i cannot give you children of your own?" She asked and he sighed deeply as he held her even tighter at hearing the uncertainty in her voice.

"You have already given me children, my love. Four of them in fact. They may not be my blood and one of them might have been understandably furious with me for killing his father in the beginning, but they're mine and I would much rather have the five of you in my life, than have another child at the cost of losing you." He told her and she immediately beamed at him, before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Because Daenerys was the only one without a betrothal yet, her bother, former goodsister turned mother-figure, niece, nephew and uncles eventually got together to discuss this and they agreed after everything that had happened, she honestly should be allowed to choose her own spouse. The young woman had looked at Jon in interest before in Winterfell, but Elia had immediately nipped that in the bud.

She absolutely refused to let any of her children marry someone with the same DNA as each other and especially Rhaegar's DNA, traditions of old Valyria be damned. A completely and very much-needed new start had finally come for House Targaryen and it would start with no incest as she had seen what that would eventually result into both here with Aerys and his madness and back in her old world with the Gaunts. Jon would eventually marry a wildling woman named Ygritte he had met during the march north.

In a rather funny twist of fate after months of meeting dozens of noble lords and their heirs, Daenerys eventually chose to marry the oldest son of Bealor Hightower, the same man Elia had almost married so long ago and the woman herself had a great laugh about it with Oberyn in private. Ashara and Ned soon went back to live in the North while Sirius was named the new Hand with Rhaenys at his side 

As their now adult children married and eventually got several children of their own, both Elia and Ashara watched in happiness and satisfaction as their hard work and the risks they had taken to keep their families safe and alive finally paid off as their new alliances held strong and even the Greyjoys kept themselves quiet, if only to save themselves from getting themselves burnt to a crisp

Once a year when they could after a few years had passed and peace still reigned across Westeros, Elia and her family would leave the capital in the capable hands of their advisors with one dragon staying back to guard the city and would go back to the small keep named Hogwarts in Dorne for a couple of months. No matter how prestigious the Red Keep or any other castle they lived in was, that place was their home. It was where the children had been raised and where they could just be Rhaenys, Aegon, Viserys and Daenerys 

One day, while watching Margaery and Aegon carefully teaching their second son how to walk in their favourite sitting room from the doorway and the others were spread all around the rest of the room with their own families as they had all grown to genuinely love their spouses, Elia slowly leaned back against her beloved husband's chest with a relaxed and happy sigh as she smiled up at him.

Jaime smiled back at her and turned her around in his arms, kissing her as their children complained about them doing it in front of their own. They were all safe and alive, Elia hoping Rhaegar could see them now from wherever he was. The Others were gone, the Baratheons had bent the knee and as long as they were careful, they could have the peace they had been denied for so long.

Sometimes, you just had to take matters into your own hands to change your fate.